Defying Gravity

Not a great year for acquiring fandoms but I will still do the fandom end of year meme.

( End of the Year Fandom Meme )

I have to make another plug for everyone to watch Parks & Recreation because it is just THAT good. Best show of the year, hands down. Alan Sepinwall also put it as #1 and describes it much better than I could (spoilers taken out):

"But overwhelming joy is a visceral reaction, too, and that's the feeling I get these days watching "Parks and Recreation." Yes, it can be a gut-bustingly funny comedy..., and that alone is an impressive achievement. But what puts "Parks and Rec" over the top for me is the sheer level of happiness it creates in me as I watch it. It's a political comedy with a fundamentally optimistic viewpoint. It generates most of its comedy not by mocking its characters for being inept..., but by showing the ways in which they are incredible. It's a show that's overflowing with love and understanding for all of its characters..., one that can be unbelievably romantic and sweet about things that would be so easy to just mock, ... In 2011, no show gave me greater pleasure to watch, week after week, than "Parks and Recreation." Original Article

S1 is not the best but after that the show is AWESOME! Go watch.

Okay so I have to post a couple things about this Glee episode.

( Glee 307 Spoilers )

In other news, proving there is a kink meme for everything, a new Parks & Recreation kink meme is now here. It's very Leslie/Ben right now but go fill and leave prompts for everything. I LOVE this show right now and there's so many great ships to choose from. I am pretty pro-Leslie/anyone she wants so I'm up for anything. The last episode of P & R was just....*happiness* I'm a little in love with Leslie right now, she's kind of my hero. She's Leslie FUCKING Knope!! And if you haven't seen the show, you should watch it. The first season isn't that good but S2-4 are all wonderful and it's even more geeky as time has gone on.

Just have to say I'm SO happy about the warm 70s weather we're having in LA right now. It reminds me why I love it here.

When I was about 11, I went to the Museum of Science and Technology where I lived. I would spend hours in front of this computer that had some AI and I would ask it questions and type in statements and try to have a conversation. Unfortunately it was very difficult because it wasn't THAT smart. But I had fun anyways.

Enter Siri. I FINALLY got an iPhone after dreaming about about one since they first came out. It is SO beautiful and I am hopelessly in love with it. I have the Sprint plan so I have UNLIMITED data plan which is a big part of the reason I got one so now I can go on the internet whenever I want. It's kind of unbelievable to me right now, the sheer heaven of it. ANY TIME ANY PLACE! I shall never be bored again. And making calls is so easy! I don't have to worry about minutes (for the most part) which is sooo nice. And have I mentioned it's unbelievably gorgeous? I love Apple and their wonderful design.

Siri is the biggest reason I wanted one though. OMG SO AWESOME! I could spend hours talking to her although I shall try to restrain myself. Especially on the love declarations (although I did get the wind beneath your wings response hee). It's so cool that she can do so much stuff for me whenever I say anything. I was in my car and remembered something I needed to do so I told her something and now it's in my Reminders app! So cool. So of course I had to ask her to be my friend and it took awhile because apparently she wasn't "allowed to" and then she started talking about Google and I was like, what?? But misunderstandings aside and after some more questions, she finally said she'd be my friend! And here's the proof:



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Whoever says that money can't buy happiness is SO WRONG.

So today was my 24th birthday and it's been amazing. runlilirun has been staying with me this week and we've been exploring LA together and it's been a whole lotta fun. Today I went to Knott's Berry Farm (after a free birthday breakfast) and had a blast going on the roller coasters there as well as seeing the sights. A few of the coasters made me a bit queasy but we found a great one: Xcelerator. SO AWESOME. Since there were few lines (and the one I really wanted to go on, Ghostrider was closed) we had time to wait in line for the front for the second time and it was even better. HUGE drop very close to straight down and very fast the entire time. Other roller coasters should take lessons. I will have to go there again to get two of the roller coasters I missed.

Then we headed off to Manhattan Beach to explore my old stomping grounds. We went to the pier at Manhattan Beach and played in the shallow end of the water a bit (it was too cold for anything else) and then just talked a lot which was fun. We then went to a mexican restaurant nearby, drank an AMAZING fruity drink and ate way too much delicious food. I was also embarrassingly serenaded with a happy birthday song-but I got free ice cream so it was okay with me. Next we went to my old job and I talked with some co-workers there. I also ran into two of my old managers and I got a chance to catch up with them which was a nice coincidence. And then we went back home to open presents :) About to finish off the day with some internet and TV which as all of us in fandom know, is always the best way to finish off a great day.

Every day I get older now still feels weird. I still can't believe I'm twenty four, I still feel like I'm younger and I'm kind of scared of getting older not in an aging way but in a, I'm not doing enough with my life way. One of the problems with being ambitious I guess. Still, I am very thankful to be an adult, living on my own and finally working on finishing this degree. I got accepted to Cal State LA so I'm going to transfer there in the spring and I have a new apartment five minutes from downtown so I'm loving getting to live here. I feel like I'm in a good place in my life, surrounded by good friends (with hopefully some new ones coming), interesting books, great hopes, great opportunities, good health and my favorite place in the world. I feel like things are finally working out for me and I'm in a great place to finally take advantage of it and work to make my dreams come true. Here's to 24 being an amazingly productive, happy and meaningful year!

(And yes, I have a much bigger fannish post coming not to mention expanded RL highlights)

So things have been up in the air for the last couple weeks but I finally know what I'm doing this fall. Unfortunately although I applied again to appeal the decision (with some great people helping me), Chapman once again rejected my appeal. So I'm not going back to Chapman University. At least I tried my hardest to get back in and now I see it as their loss. After much angsting and thinking it over, I finally found a backup plan that has its own benefits. I'm going to be attending Los Angeles City College this fall and then look to transfer to Cal State LA or Cal State Northridge for Spring (waiting on results now) or Fall of next year. I'm going to be taking some GE and business courses this semester (a speech and health class, computer science for MIS, managerial accounting and Business Law at the moment) and I'm really excited to have a fresh start and do well in them. I also want to start looking for internships-paid would be best but even unpaid would be helpful for experience. Basically I want to not repeat my previous mistakes and actually make the most of college.

The best part is the college is near Downtown LA which is my favorite place in the city so I'm going to get an apartment in the city and live there. I'm soooo excited. For those unaware, downtown LA (referred to as DTLA) is undergoing a revitalization at the moment and there are a lot of people moving there along with new businesses, restaurants, etc popping up everywhere. It's really exciting and there's a lot of activism and the like there to try to improve the community. I love the aura of DTLA, it's so exciting and invigorating and I can't wait to live there. I love being around tall buildings, lots of people, events and fun places to go to no matter where you go. I already found a really cool coffee/sweets shopa, cute lunch place with great food and a beautiful bookstore to hang out in. The best thing that's happening right now is Artwalk which I haven't gone to yet because of conflicts but I'm going to the one in September and I'm dying to go. Basically they close off the streets, tons of people come out to check out the art galleries/restaurants and there are specials and I've heard it's amazing. I really want to get involved in the local community to help create more of a community and help prevent poverty, homelessness and any other social problem around here. I'm really interested in learning more/experiencing more of the educational system (for a few startup type ideas I have) so I'm looking to get involved in tutoring and after school programs that help enrichment. I want to really experience what it's like living there so I can use that knowledge to think of ways to help.

Fandom wise it's been hard to keep up internet wise since I've been going to a lot of free internet places (I'm waiting on money to get my own place). I'm working on reviewing source for a upcoming vid I'm dyyyying to do so that's taking a lot of time right now. One other problem is the PC side of my computer isn't working which is causing another delay in getting my vid up. I hate dealing with this kind of stuff argh. Glad my Mac can bootcamp though, probably need to reinstall Windows. I've also been catching up with Breaking Bad which is AMAZING. I stopped watching S3 in a slow part and then of course it speeds up after that episode. The end of S3 just destroyed me completely and now I have no idea what's going to happen. Jesse is still my total favorite and keeps me from being too depressed about it. But Gus is pretty awesome too and reminds me of Stringer in some ways. I really can't wait for Fall TV to come back (GLEE) as well as Mad Men which I miss a LOT. It's not the same without it and it's usually on in August so I miss it a lot (especially when seeing Banana Republic's clothing displays at The Grove).

I am really looking forward to getting settled here and not being so all over the place. But hey, I'm in LA, I'm looking forward to my future and I feel good about the possibilities of life so I'll take it.

Here are my Vid Review notes (Vid Review, In Depth, Challenge) for Vividcon 2011. I did my best at hearing and typing as accurately as I could but sometimes people had quiet voices or I couldn't type fast enough so these are not perfect transcriptions. If you see something and want it corrected (or credit), feel free to let me know as I'd love for it to be more accurate.

( Vid Review Notes )

( In Depth Vid Review Notes )

( Challenge Vids Notes )

So in true rollercoaster fashion, I have gone from super low to on top of the world. So that's good :) Sometimes you just need the bad stuff to make you realize something is wrong in your life and encourage you to take action.

I have now decided that come fall, I'm going to travel! So far my plans are to see London, Paris, Belgium and possibly Italy or Spain if I can manage it. That's a month or less and then I'll spend a few months in Southeast Asia, starting out in Bangkok and we'll see from there. So I now have a goal to save for this summer while working which will be encouraging. I've been dyyyying to travel and I'm so excited that I'm going to finally get a chance to do it. I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. And if you live in any of the above places, I'd of course love to hang out with you :)

After deciding this and having a second crash, I finally figured out what I want to do with my life. I think ;) This will be the eighth time I've decided so I want to be sure this time. But I've now aligned my number one priority and what I believe is my purpose in life, to make Los Angeles the greatest city ever (preferences aside, we all have different favorites, blah blah blah) with my career goals. I am looking into getting a college degree in Urban Planning which somehow manages to combine almost all of my interests when it comes to cities. I was looking at the syllabi and websites and dying of love. Looking into Cal State Northridge, Cal State Pomona and USC since I want to stay in the LA area but we'll see what I can get into. Yeah it may take two or three years, it may require a lot of work but goddamn it I'll do it for my beloved city. And for me. Because I genuinely believe this is what I was put on this earth to do.

So I'm really excited now. I feel like I found my soulmate in terms of career. It just finally feels right. I'm so excited to read everything I can get my hands on, to talk to people, to get involved. I feel I can finally commit now and I have so many ideas on what to do and how to apply myself. In my many years of reading books and blogs, I know how to succeed in this and I know I've just got to take the initiative to make it happen.

It's funny, a large part of this revelation came while watching Kung Fu Panda 2. Don't want to spoiler it but there's a part where he realizes that despite a bad past, you can choose to be great in the future. And that's what I said to myself, I choose to be great. I can't help it, I'm an ambitious person and there's nothing that gets me down more than feeling like I will never accomplish my dreams and will leave this world with nothing but regrets. I don't think I've done a good job til now in actually doing anything to make these dreams happen so I want to start to change that now. I feel like I really believe in myself that I can do this and I will do whatever it takes to become a truly great person who really will change the world in a BIG way. I think there's a lot to say in being patient and not expecting everything at once while still taking this sometimes scary steps to make things happen and join things that matter to me.

I feel good. This sense of purpose is amazing. I just do so much better in this world if I have goals even if the goals eventually change. Stuff at work doesn't bother me as much because I know it's just something small on the road to something much bigger. My attitude feels so much more positive and I just want to make every day count and soak up every bit of development I can get my hands on. I want to share my good energy with the world!

With that, here is an appropriate meme: Post a comment, and I will reply with one or two reasons why I think you're great. In return, you have to post this same meme on your blog and comment for other people.

I am so thankful for my LJ/DW friends and all of fandom for providing me with so much happiness and support!

So it's been a pretty epic week for me. Last Sunday I ran the Los Angeles Marathon and it was pretty amazing even if I was hit by a heavy dose of bad luck.

( More on the story of how I completed the marathon )

I also just created a new community, socalvids for vid fans in the Southern California area who want to get together to watch and discuss vids. I really hope if you're in the area that you'll consider joining as I'd love to help create more of a community of people who love vids in socal. I know we're out there, we're just spread out and it'd be so fun to watch vids in a group again!

I'm also really excited about Vividcon this August! I'm sure it's going to be super fun and I'm excited about the vids I want to premiere there.

I saw Sucker Punch last night and I'd definitely recommend it if you like to see girls kicking ass with guns, swords and other weaponery as well as super, AMAZING visuals and a great soundtrack. Story might not be the best but it worked enough for me. Also glad to see more people joining The Social Network fandom! It really is a great fandom. I really need to hurry up and finish my vid for it (or one of them).

Mostly I am SUPER excited about finally getting a car on April 1st. It is almost too good to be true after dying for one since October. I can get around anywhere! I don't have to take buses anymore! I can meet more people and go to events and have FUN! This is the best present I could ever get. Also work is going really well as I GOT THE SCHEDULING JOB! I was the only one to get the chance so I am ecstatic. And I'm getting along and becoming more friends with people at work which is really great in making me feel like I belong. I just feel I'm really developing as a person there and carying those lessons in leadership, initiative and social skills to the rest of my life. So yeah, haven't got as much done in my life as I hoped in the beginning of the year but I'm getting things done slowly and I'm positive about the changes in my life so I'll take it. Now I just need to find a way to make more money and I'll be really good...(suggestions appreciated).

My worst fears have come true. I need some help signing up for Vividcon signups this Saturday night as I've got to work and I can't give this shift away. The signups are at Saturday at 9 PST (or Sunday 12 am EST) and I can give you all my details (no money necessary) so you can sign up when registration goes live. It generally sells out in the first five minutes so I need it to be done FAST. It takes a minute though so it's not a problem. I would super appreciate to whoever can do this for me!

Okay let's get this post done before I get too lazy to do it...

Escapade was great! I had a lot of fun and it was so great to live in a little fannish bubble for a weekend. Not so great was the early morning and late night trip home but let's forget that. It was great to get to talk to a lot of people I've missed seeing for awhile now as well as new people and to talk fandom and watch vids and generally have a good time. I co-led the Glee panel which was a lot of fun (we couldn't stop talking! hee) and led a vid panel which was interesting, tech breakdown (and nervousness) aside. Definitely motivating for vidding which I reeeally need as I have way too many unfinished (and unstarted VVC projects) vids to finish. I also won a TiVo (with lifetime access) and a bunch of Escapade vid DVDs! It was awesome as I usually never win these things and in a span of a couple weeks, I've tripled my usual results.

Work is also being super awesome. I suspected my complaining would be a one off kind of thing. After much talking, I am now getting lead shifts and plenty of hours and my marketing group is going VERY well. Lots of exciting possibilities there, great conversations and my manager liked the ideas I gave him. Plus I got a raise, little as it is :) Career wise things are very interesting, hoping things will open up for me in a good way and I'm enjoying a lot of books I'm reading at the moment.

Glee was AMAZING last week. Yes a certain made for me, scene of my dreams scene was waaaay too short but I enjoyed the hell out of it and an episode about alcohol will always make me happy. LOVED the Kurt/Blaine stuff (mostly), LOVED the Brittany/Santana stuff and loooove the songs. I need to write up a long post at some point but that will have to do.

Was able to catch some of the Oscars although I need to catch up more. I wasn't surprised by any of the results but was VERY happy with The Social Network, Trent Raznor and Atticus Ross winning Best Original Music. They SO deserved it, it's probably my favorite soundtrack ever and I listen to it all the time especially before bed and while I read. Just so gorgeous, original and fits the music perfectly with the blend of technology and emotion. I love the simplicity of it as well as I love the quicker stuff, In Motion and Intriguing Possibilities totally are brainstorming music for me. Yeah I totally fangirl the music. Wish The Social Network would have won Best Picture but I love The King's Speech too and it deserved it so I don't mind. After Brokeback Mountain (which SHOULD have won the best picture award goddamn stupid voters) got screwed over, I don't place too much seriousness in the Oscars although it is enjoyable from a certain standpoint. Yay for Colin Firth, Melissa Leo and the TSN editors!

Going to try to post a bit more and hoping this meme will help me do it. I want to talk more about The Social Network but my thoughts always come and go so let's see if this helps:

( 1. Thoughts on your favorite character and why you love them so much: )